Wednesday, April 30, 2008

I'm off to FoVA. I can't believe the date is finally here. I'm so excited to see my old virtual friends and meet new ones!

I was planning on blogging my way through the conference but after my phone call with AT&T today finding out the costs of using my iPhone while out of country I might just wait until I get back. I was told I will be charged .2 cents for each kilobyte I use. Can someone explain to me what that means? If I sit here and blog for a 1/2 an hour how many kilobytes is that?

Monday, April 28, 2008

You may have noticed I haven't been picking a blog of the week EVERY week. I decided that was just too much commitment for me. Instead I'm picking a blog of the week whenever I feel like it.

This week's pick is Heather Jacobson's Desperately Seeking Sanity. Heather is a wonderful writer and I really enjoy reading her tales of motherhood. I also love the title of her blog. It is so right on with life...

Friday, April 25, 2008

Are you a Starbuck's fan? Do you drop in to Starbuck's once a day to get your favorite tall non-fat soy caramel frapuccino or a double espresso macchiatto? How much does that cost? Let's say it costs $1.65. If you got one every day that would be $602.25 a year (not to mention the tip you might be leaving).

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Does your bank charge you a monthly fee to keep your checking account? If so, ask them to waive it or take your business elsewhere. With so many banks offering free checking accounts why should you be paying for one?

Sunday, April 20, 2008

April always hits me hard. It's the month when all the big bills are due ( income tax, property tax, home owner's insurance, car insurance, etc...).

This got me thinking about money and how easy it is to waste. This also brought me a blog inspiration. The topic of conscious spending. Do you know where you are spending all your money?

1. Do you ever pay your credit card bill late? If you have paid it late you probably noticed the late fee in addition to an interest charge. Did you know you can call your credit card company and ask them to waive that late fee? Most likely they will waive that fee for you.

2. Do you have a storage unit? Why? If you have a storage unit I'm guessing you just might have more stuff than you actually need. Ask yourself why you are holding on to all that stuff. If you are paying $70 a month for storage that is $840 a year.

3. Do you drink soda every day? How many cans? A dollar a day on soda adds up to $365 a year?

4. I'm going to be adding weekly financial tips to my blog. Come back next week for more thoughts...

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Like Waldo, I have been hard to find lately. I know I am WAY over due for a blog post. To be honest I just have not had the inspiration (not to mention I've been incredibly busy).

I've been working with a coach and have made some big decisions over the last few weeks. One of those decisions was to create more balance in my life. I remembered that I did not go in to business for myself to be a workaholic that works around the clock including the weekends. I went in to business for myself to be in control of my own life. But something happened instead of me running my business, my business was running my life. Somewhere along the line I forgot to keep having fun. I just started working, working and working some more. What happened was I started saying yes to everyone. Potential clients would call and say can you do this or that for me and I would reply with a yes because I could do this or that for them. I forgot to ask myself do I want to do this or that for them? Do I have time to do this or that for them? Do I enjoy doing this or that for them? I just kept saying yes and the clients just kept coming.

This past month I made the tough decision to let some clients go. This was tough because I actually like all my clients but I don't necessarily like all the work I do for them. I decided to keep the clients whom I loved working with and whose tasks I enjoyed working on the most.

Ending a relationship is never easy. Saying goodbye is not fun. But knowing my boundaries and setting them has been a huge relief. I feel an incredible weight lifted off my shoulders. I have time again; time to think, time to plan and time to be creative (even time to blog). I am looking forward to attending the FoVA (Forum on Virtual Assistance) in May to be with my peers, to learn from them, to brainstorm with them and to come home rejuvenated and ready to take my business to a new place, whatever that place may be.

I'm also very proud to announce that I have been nominated for the Thomas Leonard award! I am honored to be included in the list of past nominees and winners.

"This award is to honor a Virtual Assistant who has been in business for at least 5 years and who has contributed to the industry in such a way that it has provided a positive impact on many others and helped them to build a successful business. If they have headed up a VA organization or activity; written a book or other publication specifically to help other VAs; been a mentor to fellow VAs; or in an impacting way that has helped the industry grow, we want to know." -OIVAC (IVAD Awards)

Thank you!

PS. It's sunny and warm here in Northern California. The wild flowers are blooming! To celebrate Spring we are offering $10 off our book this week. Enter the code "productive" (without the quotes) to get the discount.